STORY HIGHLIGHTS

An American's 22 journeys to Tibetan areas in China

Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, about 25 miles northwest of Denver.

It's home to Dr. Bill Warnock, who is President of the Boulder-Lhasa Sister City Project.

Established in 1986, the project has contributed to the development of the city of Lhasa and other Tibetan areas, through exchanges in health care, education, environmental protection, as well as culture and art.

Warnock has personally visited Tibet 22 times since 1988 - including five to Tibetan areas in the western part of China's Sichuan Province.

SOUNDBITE: BILL WARNOCK, President of Boulder-Lhasa Sister City Project

"I have been to Lhasa 17 times. Some of my friends asked why not go to Africa this year. But I keep going back to the Tibetan culture, sometimes Tibet, sometimes western Sichuan Province. Mostly because Tibetan people are so appreciative, so compassionate and so friendly."

It's not just travel for Warnock, he's also thrown himself into helping where he can.

SOUNDBITE: BILL WARNOCK, President of Boulder-Lhasa Sister City Project

"This cure project really started five years ago, when I learnt about this Tibetan girl who has lost her eye sight from these disease. It's called Cysticercosis. I sometimes call it pig parasite, because it is involved with eating pork. So I learnt about this girl. She has lost her eye sight from this disease. I said to myself that we should try to help this girl. So we raised 19,000 dollars four years ago to provide brain surgery for her, which was performed at the Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital in Chengdu."

The linkup has undertook eight significant projects in Lhasa and one recent project in the Tibetan area of western Sichuan Province.

Most of the funding came from residents in Boulder, but also from elsewhere in the United States and abroad.

Lisa Morzel, a member of the Boulder City Council, spoke highly of Warnock's consistent efforts.

SOUNDBITE: LISA MORZEL, Boulder City Council Member

"Dr. Warnock has done an incredible service of identifying the medical problem in Lhasa, working with local people in Lhasa to help resolve that, and then bring that back to Boulder, letting us understand that more and being able to contribute money towards his efforts to help that medical situation."

Warnock will soon set off his 23rd trip to Tibetan areas in China for the upcoming Student Magnetic Resonance Imaging Project in Sichuan Province later this month.

So far, the Sister City Project has raised some 30,000 U.S. dollars for it, thanks to donations from 79 different individuals, foundations, and corporations.

It helps with combatting cysticercosis, a dangerous and highly prevalent parasitic disease,

Thanks to the project, 45 Tibetan primary school students will travel to the city of Xichang in Sichuan Province to undergo MRI brain scans.